Bengaluru: Defending champions Mumbai Indians, meanwhile, will be retaining skipper Rohit Sharma along with Pandya brothers, Hardik and Krunal, while underperforming Delhi Daredevils may keep Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer in their stable ahead of the IPL auction on January 27.
While the last date of submission for the player retention is January 4, the franchises are more or less certain about the kind of players they would like to retain and the ones they would buy back with Right To Match (RTM) cards.
“Skipper Rohit Sharma is an automatic retention having led the team to three IPL titles. Hardik Pandya is one of the big match-winners and the interesting third retention would be Krunal Pandya,” a senior BCCI official in the know of things said.
It is learnt that it is a strategic decision to retain Krunal as this will enable the franchise to buy back Kieron Pollard and Jasprit Bumrah with the ‘Right To Match’ cards.
“MI has been the biggest advocate of five retentions. These five are their core group of match winners and it will be surprising if they deviate from this strategy,” the BCCI official said.
It is learnt that Delhi are still undecided about having two or three retentions but Pant and Iyer being India players are certain to be retained.
“If you retain two capped players, you spend Rs210 million (Rs125 million for Player 1 and Rs85 million for Player 2) instead of Rs330 million for three capped players (Rs150 million for Player 1, Rs110 million for Player 2 and Rs70 million for Player 3),” the official explained.
Steve Smith is expected to be retained by Rajasthan Royals after having spent two years at the Rising Pune Supergiants.
The Chennai Super Kings are set to retain three of their marquee players — skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, IPL superstar Suresh Raina and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja while Dwayne Bravo, if fit, is all but certain to be bought back with Right To Match card.
David Warner looks certain to be retained by Sunrisers Hyderabad, who can also retain the immensely talented Deepak Hooda by paying Rs30 million for the uncapped player just like MI will be doing for Krunal.
Meanwhile, former South African cricketer Gary Kirsten and former India pacer Ashish Nehra have been roped in by the IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore as their batting and bowling coach, it was announced.
Additionally, the duo will also play the role of mentors for the team during the upcoming edition of the cash-rich league.
Commenting on the development, the head coach of the franchise Daniel Vettori said: “I am excited to welcome Gary and Ashish to the coaching team for Royal Challengers Bangalore. Both of them bring a wealth of experience in cricket, which the team can learn from immensely. We look forward to an amazing season,” he added.
